Direct Flights Between Cebu and Baguio Sentimental for Philippine Airlines
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Philippine Airlines is launching direct flights between Cebu and Baguio in December and it’s significant in more ways than one.
Besides connecting passengers between Central Visayas and Northern Luzon, the route sees PAL’s return to Baguio, which is the first destination in the legacy carrier’s history.
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"This will be PAL's comeback to the very first destination we served nearly 82 years ago, so we are happy to be flying back to where it all started,” said PAL President and COO Capt. Stanley K. Ng. “At the same time, we’re inaugurating a brand-new service, linking two progressive tourist and business destinations: the Queen City of the South and the City of Pines.”
PAL’s maiden voyage when it was founded in 1941 was from Manila to Baguio. The airline will operate the new Cebu-Baguio route four times a week under its sister carrier PAL Express starting on December 16.
"Our direct flight will enable passengers in the central Visayas to enjoy a two-hour journey to Northern Luzon and vice versa, without the hassle of booking multiple connecting trips via both land and air,” said PAL express Officer-In-Charge Rabbi Ang.
The Cebu-Baguio flights will be operated with De Havilland Dash 8 Series 400 Next Generation aircraft, a high-performance turboprop plane.
“We also see this new service as an opportunity to further boost domestic tourism, as Filipinos plan their holiday getaways for the Christmas peak season and for 2023. We assure all travelers that strict safety and health protocols will be observed on all our flights,” Ang added.
PAL will be able to serve the said route, after the rehabilitation of the Laokan Airport, which was built in 1934, by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).
“We laud the Department of Transportation, under the leadership of Secretary Jaime J. Bautista and CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo, for upgrading Loakan Airport to enable safe and reliable airline services to and from Baguio City,” said Ng. “We will work with the aviation authorities, the local governments and the travel community to make our Cebu-Baguio flights a success.”
Tourism Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco said the new PAL service “will certainly provide new opportunities that would propel closer interaction between two of the most prominent tourism destinations in the country.”
“We are excited to showcase the new tourism products and circuits in the Cordilleras - from creative crawls in Baguio to farm and gastronomic experiential tours, crafts and arts shopping, not to mention a glimpse of its diverse culture; this new route will undoubtedly increase arrivals and spur economic activities to the Cordilleras and create demand for investment and employment for our fellow Filipinos,” she said.
PAL’s Cebu-Baguio route is the latest addition to the flag carrier’s Cebu hub, a network of domestic flights connecting Cebu to various cities in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. PAL also operates between Cebu and Tokyo Narita.
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